Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-08-25
Carlyle'S Ghost.

Seldom can there be seen in any de-
cent street in n London suburb a house
so dingy, dilapidated and squalid look
ing as this All the lower window
panes have been shattered (bv stone
throwing apparently and the broken
glass is lying on the dirty sills and on
the rubbish heaps in the damp area of
the basement. A house agents board,
half thrown down, bore a torn printed
paper announcement, This House to
Lett" the shutters of the rooms were
closed aud all very dirty; the brick
work was discolored with rain, and
getting loose and broken; the whole
aspect of the house was as if it had
been deserted for half century.
think there is sufficient matter for
the growth of myth or Evolutionary
ghost story concerning Carlyle, in the
following incident which took place on
the evening of this same day in May,
1887. of which | have been speaking.
1t was getting dark. and lady who
lives in Cheyne row was coming home
As she passed No. she saw a group
of children and young girls standing
before it in the roadway, looking up
at the house and speaking in eager
whispers. She knew one of the girls
and asked her what was the matter
what they were looking at. The girl
replied with hesitation
''Oh! ma'am, we are waiting to see
the ghost"
''lndeed Where is there ghost?"
The other girls came close to her.
and they pointed and nodded their
heads gravely at the empty house of
the Carlyles.
Have any of you seen this ghost?"
asked the lady, with much interest in
the matter.
mo, ma'am. We haven't seen it,
but my sister Polly was told thai Mrs.
Smith at the shop saw it."
''Who told Polly?" asked the lady.
Aunt Eliza, or leastways, some
body that heard it from Aunt Eliza"
''Oh! Then 1t was Mrs. Smith who
saw the ghost?"
90 yes. Mrs. Smith last Friday
evening"
''What was the ghost like?"
Then the girls all whispered at once,
at was a tall old man with white hair,
and he was wrapped in great white
sheet.
Then they all looked with curious,
eager timidity, up at the broken win
dows of the ground floor.
did Mrs. Smith see him there
with the shutter closed like that?"
asked the lady.
There was a pause, and then one of
the girls said:
No! The shutter must have been
open, and. the window, too"
How do you know that2" inquired
the lady.
''Oh! Because Aunt Eliza said he
beckoned to Mrs. Smith, and she was
III a great fright; but she had to stop
because he spoke to her"
He spoke to her? Do you know
what he said?'
30 yes, he spoke in strange, faint
sort of voice, and said: Bring me
two penn'orth of tobacco"
The lady did not laugh, but shs
tried to dispel the superstitious ideas
of the girls by saying:
Don't you think it likely to. have
been old Barnes, the painter in his
white coat and apron? He may have
been sent into the house by the owner
to do some job there, and he can't get
on with his work unless he smokes,
you know?"
They did know; but they did not
seem willing to adopt her common
place view of the matter, and she left
them still looking at the broken win
dows expecting to see the ghost.
A fr1n hot E.t,
orth of tobacco in the empty house
No 5 Cheyne row! A more appro-
pirate burlesque could not have been
invented by the cleverest of our many
writer's who devote their talents to
men and things ridiculous.
Carlyle himself, in the flesh, would
have felt the humor of it and enjoyed
it NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Globe.